Review by Nathan on April 18, 2020.

While overall a great label, I sometimes feel I, Voidhanger Records can be a little too weird for their own good. Their focus on unique, unsettling sounds means you’re guaranteed an acid trip of an album with every release, and more labels should definitely draw from that approach, but a lot of times what’s great on paper translates musically to albums that have a lot of curious stuff going on, but lack the riff base to properly ground that stuff. Panegyrist and Howls of Ebb are two good examples of that, and Spectral Lore loses me at times as well. Ambition has a downside, you can try and cover too much ground in the process and end up sounding like something that’s trying to be too many things.

Haunter is different, though. They have a full sound that has a much more natural interplay between instruments than a singular vision tends to have, which immediately puts them in a different ballpark than stuff like The Wakedead Gathering and Tchornobog. Not necessarily better or worse, just different. In addition, Voidhanger appears to build a lot of their bands from the ground up, whereas Haunter already caught a bit of buzz with their first full-length before they were picked up by the label. Again, neither an inherent good nor bad thing, but just a few characteristics surrounding the album that put Sacramental Death Qualia in a completely different context than what you may have come to expect from Voidhanger. Haunter is still definitely very weird and unique, but they never seem to strive for weirdness. This album is very organic in execution; the creepy dissonance and long, eerie acoustic passages sound incredibly purposeful and are extremely well integrated into the more discernible melodies. Putting it simply, Sacramental Death Qualia has meat. Dissonant, spooky, delicious meat.

The production is a lot smoother than it has been for the band in the past, which does remove a bit of the raw, unhinged power that Thrinodia had to it, but replaced is a focus on an atmosphere that is as uncomfortable as it is entrancing. 'Dispossessed Phrenic Antiquity' wastes no time in immediately hitting you with a morbid yet slightly math-y death metal riff, which is refreshing because atmospheric bands like to do long buildup intros most of the time, but I almost wouldn’t have minded it because the non-distorted melodies on Sacramental Death Qualia are fuckin excellent. The long, lighter guitars (found most notably in the second, third and final tracks) seems to hang above the music and create several melodies out of the overlapping reverb, mixing creepy yet consonant textures together in consistently stimulating ways. Some people might think they're a bit overlong, but I'm so enthralled by them the whole time that I don't even care. The riffs play with lots of different textures, but never to the point where they sound disparate from one another. Everything ties into the tense, creepy theme, only making it more intricate. It’s like marveling at someone’s beauty and then watching them die two minutes later.

As good as the cleaner parts are, though, this is a riff-focused album, never content to stick to one riff for too long, with every new riff bringing an off-kilter yet catchy bend. Haunter’s sense of melody is at once original, catchy and immersive, which is enough of a reason to check this out, but all of my little imaginary boxes are checked on top of that: the vocals are sometimes buried, but never overtake the mix and come into the foreground at the right times. The drums are notably skilled while tasteful enough to remain in the background, and the way the instruments feed off of each other is addicting to listen to. Normally when I review albums I score them based on two things: one, how long I can listen to the album without getting sick of it, and two, if I do have to leave the room or take my headphones out, how compelled I am to pause it. I can listen to Sacramental Death Qualia several times in succession and still want another go, and I’ve always paused it so far.

Rating: 9.1 out of 10

Review by Alex on December 22, 2020.

Something special happens when traditional death metal and grindcore merge; can't put it into words but for brevity let's say the results and final outcome are just incredible. Finland are no newcomers to death metal, heck they pretty much are the head honchos for old school death/doom so I would have expected no less in quality from the band in discussion today and more so the album they just shat-out from the bowels of the region. Anthropophagy is Sadistic Drive's first full length album following a compilation put out in 2019. 'Nasty shit' as someone I know had described the material when asked their thoughts after referencing Anthropophagy. Spot on description of the music waiting to blemish your white shirt and matching pants; Anthropophagy sounds like human waste running through and pouring out of your local underground sewer-system. Sick, ugly, just yuck........

I'll keep this one as short as I can to avoid puking on myself. Anthropophagy offers 10 grotesque pieces stinking with the canker of years old decay and from the time the first stick is thrown unto the drum kit and the first riff pours and the first vocal note is belched, the message arrives with sound clarity that Sadistic Drive have every intention of not just living up to their band name but offering music that is reminiscent of the death/grind scene around 89-91. First menacing piece comes in the form of a track called 'Serial Cleaner' following its opening spoken sample; and indeed 'one by one' it got us all. Falling over like a nerd for the hottest looking (disease riddled) chick in the class that has been fucked more than the american taxpayer by every guy and his granddad, this tune has got the curves, the tits, ass and hole death/grind possessed at the dawning of its era. Guitar licks that smear the slush, vocals that sound as though someone is regurgitating soup spoilt for a week and drumming that sounds like some sicco is splashing around jovially in liquefied defecation. This track brings the ugliness of the era and it only gets better as time progresses.

'Internal Putrefaction' and 'Acid Vomit', two more twisted yet delicious death/grind tracks, short and to the point as they should be. No filler, just serious, hitman-style work conducted on the listener. Lots of groovy transitions, mid-paced to high-octane, uptempo blast beats and riffing both memorable and craze inducing. The vocals are dynamic to a degree whereby a sort of snarl would be used in connection with a deep guttural and mid-ranged yell. Some parts on the album are also very sporadic mainly in the faster grindcore moments such as on 'Worm Eaten Abomination' (in which you also get a bit of death/doom) and 'Disease Ridden Pervert' that features my favorite drum section on the album nearing its end after that sinister bit of laughter.

Because the tracks are so short you're kept at the height of interest provided there's always something there happening that is different. Heading down to 'Ferox (Victim of Anthropophagous Tribe)' and 'Body Part Puzzle' it becomes hard to not want to play Anthropophagy again due to so much being tossed at you within this short 27 minute span. Plus those two songs exploit the momentum of previous highlights that in turn manage to bring the album to a worthy conclusion. Probably heard Anthropophagy more than 10 times in a single stretch and still finding new stuff there every time. One of 2020's hidden gems; or in this case, hidden germs.

Rating: 8.7 out of 10